St Ives Cornwall - Beer Festival

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Had a great time yesterday at the beer festival in The Guildhall.

Went down in the afternoon, two pints of scrumpy cider was enough so I headed home.

Spent most of the time outside in the smokers area -

along with about half of those attending (that's why the crowd above looks a bit sparse).

Thanks to CAMRA Cornwall for organising such a great event.

St Ives Cornwall - Sunny Weekend

St Ives Cornwall - Sunny Weekend

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Its been a beautiful weekend in St Ives.

Feels like summer has finally arrived - clear blue skies, really hot and sunny.

Thought I'd share this video with you.

What's On In St Ives

Cafe Frug - St Ives Arts Club

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Its been a busy week in St Ives with crowds of visitors - looking forward to a quieter week.

There's plenty going on over the next week - so I'll highlight a few events, as ever shamelessly plugging the one's that interest me, are staged by my friends or have provided suitable incentives. This week's blag count is a disappointing one free ticket!

St Ives Beer Festival is on at The Guildhall on Saturday (30th) - with more than 50 real ales, ciders and perries. There is live music and games as well. Entry is £3.50 including a souvenir glass.

St Ives School Of Painting are running their usual programme of "walk in" classes - no need to book, just turn up, beginners welcome. Life drawing on Saturday (30th), Monday (1st),and Wednesday (3rd). Personal art practice workshop on Friday (5th). More details on their website.

St Ives Arts Club members exhibition is open every day from 10.00am - 4.00pm. A varied and interesting collection of work in different media.

Theatre company BishBashBosh are staging Surfing Tommies at St Ives Theatre on Monday (1st). Set during, and in the aftermath of the First World War, this poignant drama follows the lives of three members of the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, on an incredible journey from the mines of Cornwall to the fields of Flanders, and back home again. Doors open 7.30pm. Tickets £7.00 (adult), £6.00 (child). Box Office - call in at St Ives Theatre on The Stennack or call 01736 797007.

My wife Jo McIntosh will be running her knitting club for children "Start Knitting With Jo" at St Ives Library on Tuesday (2nd) at 4.00pm. St Ives Knitting Group will then meet at the library in the evening at 7.00pm - all welcome.

Also on Tuesday (2nd) St Ives Jazz Club are staging Truro College Jazz Funk Band. I'm told that this is one of the highlights of their programme. Entry is £9.00 on the door or £6.00 for members. Truro College students can get in for £3.00. Doors open at 8.00pm.

Cafe Frug - an evening of performance - poetry, music, comedy, film - is on Thursday (4th) at St Ives Arts Club. Doors open at 7.30pm. Entry is £4.00 on the door.

The regular weekly Songwriters Night, hosted by Steve Jones, is at The Western Hotel on Friday (5th) staring at 8.00pm, free entry.

Please let me know of anything else that's on - I'll add it to my St Ives Calendar - which has a more detailed list of stuff.

St Ives Events Calendar

St Ives Cornwall - Beer Festival

The annual beer festival - run by Campaign For Real Ale Cornwall - opens today and runs tomorrow as well at St Ives Guildhall.

They will be serving more than 50 real ales, perries and ciders.

Free soft drinks for designated drivers.

Also - games, live music, food.

So if you have a beard, your own pewter tankard and like drinking stuff with names like Old Growler and Thumpers Best get along there.

I've managed to blag a comp. ticket so I'll be there later today.

Entry: £3.50 (includes souvenir glass and programme)

(CAMRA members free + £2.00 for glass).

Steeple Woodland Nature Reserve

Steeple Woodland - Video by Eia Films

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St Ives Cornwall - Steeple Woodland Nature Reserve

The Reserve is a 40-acre public open space around Knill's Monument, above St Ives. Visitors can explore the woods, stroll over heathland and discover areas planted with young trees.

There are remnants of local mining history and spectacular views across St Ives Bay.

This is a community venture supported by many local volunteers who regulalrly work on the site.

They meet every Sunday afternoon, 2.00 - 4.00.

Current activities include clearing remaining rhododendron from Steeple Woods, weeding rhododendron seedlings on the remainder of the site, looking after newly planted trees (e.g. trampling bracken around saplings), replacing any damaged or missing tree guards and path clearance.

The contact for attending is John Mudge - call 01736 798252 if you'd like to help.
Volunteers meet by the notice board on the five bar gate, 3/4 way up Steeple Lane on the left.

Also a really nice place to visit and take a picnic - and in the summer somewhere to get away from the crowded streets and beaches of St Ives.

There is more information on their website - including a map.

Steeple Woodland Website

St Ives Cornwall - Porthmeor Sunset

Porthmeor Beach St Ives - Sunset

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Yesterday was beautifully sunny and warm - felt like summer is finally on the way.

I went up to Barnoon to film the sunset - hope you enjoy it.

Looking forward to more sunny days.

St Ives Open Studios

Video by Anna Chen

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My wife Jo will be opening her studio to visitors this week as part of Cornwall Creative Skills programme of open studios across the county.

Jo is a textile artist and does weaving, felt making, knitting, jewellery and a host of other textile related arts. As well as making pieces for sale she runs workshops in St Ives and around Cornwall. She's also happy to travel anywhere to run workshops for textile groups.

Take a look at Jo's website for more info:
Knitweave Website

If you'd like to see her work  please do come along - all welcome.

The studio is at 31 Bedford Road, St Ives, TR26 1SP (map below).

Studio is open from 11.00 to 5.00 on these dates:

• Monday 25th May
  
• Tuesday 26th May
  
• Wednesday 27th May
  
• Friday 29th May
  
• Saturday 30th May

Jo wil also be taking part the Open Studios programme during St Ives September Festival

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View Jo McIntoshStudio - St Ives in a larger map

St Ives September Festival 2009 - Preview

Rod Bullimore - Poetry In The Square

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This is the first of a series of previews of this year's festival - which runs from Saturday 12th - Saturday 26th September 2009.

I'll be following up with some previews of individual events - particularly the smaller, less known (and cheaper!) gigs and performances. Many of these don't yet (and may never) feature on the "official" festival website, as this seems mainly focused on selling tickets for the "bigger" gigs at St Ives Guildhall.

Firstly - the Guildhall programme is the usual solid, but predictable and unimaginative, line up of established festival artists such as Elkie Brooks, Syd Lawrence Orchestra, Eliza Carthy and The Ukulele Orchestra Of Great Britain. Ticket prices are steep - from £14.00 up to £22.00. As ever no gigs, or ticket concessions, for young people. Also no showcase for young local bands. Two possible highlights though - the excellent Show of Hands return, plus Bellowhead who open the festival on the first Saturday. The closing act on the final Saturday is a tribute band btw - nothing against them BUT this IS meant to be an arts festival - if you want to see f***ing trib. bands you can go to a trib. festival!

The programme at The Western Hotel is varied. As ever St Ives Jazz Club will be staging gigs on the two Tuesdays - Partisans (15th) and Empirical (22nd). Ben Waters - the brilliant boogie-woogie pianist is here on Sunday 20th. There is also a comedy night on Monday 21st which sees the welcome return of Gary Delaney. I staged him here last year when we ran a short lived comedy club and trust me he is really really funny. Don't miss either of these.

One event I'm really looking forward to is St Ives Community Play performance of Romeo and Juliet. This will be staged outdoors on The Island overlooking Porthgwidden Beach and St Ives Bay. The cast is entirely made up of locals - with professional direction from Sarah Lincoln. Last year - A Midsummer Nights Dream - was fantastic - we took some bottles of Cava, lay out on the grass and enjoyed. It featured Oberon making his entrance on a speedboat across the bay and Titania entering on horseback (on a real horse! - cool - that's high production values for you). Tickets will be around a reasonable £7.00 (tbc) and I'd recommend you don't miss this. Performances are on 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th September (also prior to the festival during August).

Poetry In The Square will be on every day from 12.30 in Norway Square - with all welcome. This free event attracts a wide and varied range of performers. Poetry obviously - but also comedy, prose readings and live music. This year St Ives poet Bob Devereux will share the hosting with Rod Bullimore and Anna Chen. You can therefore expect the event to be staged with unusual efficiency, especially when Anna is running the show, but without losing the spontaneity that makes this such a great part of each festival day.

St Ives School of Painting are running daily classes in their wonderful Porthmeor Studios overlooking the beach. Most are suitable for beginners and there is no need to book - just turn up. Subjects include life drawing & painting, watercolour, collage and printmaking.

I'm putting together a comprehensive events calendar which aims to feature everything that's going on - whether its is in the "official" programme or not. The current "official" festival website only lists gigs at St Ives Guildhall and The Western Hotel - nothing else at all. My guide includes all the stuff mentioned above plus loads more and I'll be keeping it updated on a regular basis - so check it out!

September Festival Guide

Please let me know if there any events you want to see featured.

What's On In St Ives This Week

Sacconi Quartet - Music In May. Photo - Katie Vandyck.

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I've been working on a comprehensive What's On listing for St Ives - using Google Calendar.

What is surprising is just how much is going on in town.

I thought I'd highlight some of the events - you can go to the calendar for a full listing.

St Ives School of Painting will be running their regular "walk in" life drawing classes - on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. They also run an art workshop on Friday. These are held in the wonderful setting of Porthmeor Studios - part of the historic complex of studios overlooking the beach. No need to book - just turn up.

St Ives Arts Club members exhibition opens with a preview today at 5.00. Its then open from 10.00 every day. Always worth a look with a great variety of work. 

If you like classical music - check out The Sacconi Quartet - performing a series of four concerts at St Ives Parish Church as part of St Ives Music In May.

If you want something less intelectually challenging try Freddy Zapp - karaoke night at The Sheaf Of Wheat on Monday.

St Ives Jazz club are staging Zoe Rahman on Tuesday night at The Western.

Thursday night sees theatre at St Ives Arts Club - No Mans Land. I'll be there, have comp tickets. Also running on Friday and Saturday night.

 (btw I'm always up for comp tickets - so get in touch if you want me to shamelessly plug your stuff here!). 

You can see the full calendar here - so have a great week in St Ives:

St Ives Events Calendar

St Ives Cornwall - Sunny Evening

St Ives Harbour - Early Evening - 21st May 2009

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Lovely day in St Ives - sunny and peaceful.

Above is a view of St Ives Harbour early evening. 

I've spent most of this week working on various websites, in particular today St Ives Farmers Market - more on that next week.

I've also been working on my St Ives Events Calendar - aiming to make it the most comprehensive listing for the town - so if you know of any events let me know and I'll add them.

I'll be getting back to blogging more regularly with more about whats going on in town, a review of St Ives Literature Festival and the first of a series of previews of St Ives September Festival.

MPs Expenses - Andrew George - Cornwall

Premier Travel Inn County Hall - Reasonably Priced Accommodation

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I emailed St Ives Lib Dems inviting a response on Friday - but as with previous emails to them no reply.

So - here's my response and comments on:

Andrew George - Response To Telegraph Article

First - if you're living in Cornwall why do you need a second home in London ?
I travel to London to work from time to time and like most of us who travel up from Cornwall I stay in a modest business hotel - usually Premier Travel Inn or similar. In case you hadn't noticed there is one conveniently situated just over the bridge from Westminster at County Hall.

"Fact 1: We purchased nearly 1/3 of the flat ourselves and bought half of the furniture and fittings without making a claim from taxpayers' money."

Well that's really big of you Andrew - so us taxpayers only funded just over £200,000 of your purchase.

The Telegraph article states ' .....  claiming back £1,898 spent on furnishings. They included a sofa and beds which were said to have been delivered to his main home in Cornwall.'
There is no response to this particular point on your website - simple question - is this true or not true ?

"Fact 2: My daughter was living in a student hall of residence elsewhere in London throughout the period of the claim the Telegraph refers to. Before that she lived elsewhere in London - not in my flat."
No comment from me for now.
Guido does have some comments on this.

"Fact 3: They didn't tell their readers that they sent a snooper around to my flat for the whole morning but failed to get a picture of my daughter leaving it."
Not nice being snooped on is it.
St Ives is now plastered with CCTV cameras. Are you planning to do anything about it ?

"Fact 4: I have long argued that MPs should not be able to "profit" from the allowance regime and that we should be required to sell our flats back at cost and give back furniture so that Parliament could build up a portfolio of furnished flats to rent back to MPs."
So - is that a commitment to sell back at cost and give back all the furniture ?

"Fact 5: As I own 1/3 of the flat anyway I believe that it is reasonable for me to allow any member of my family to visit or stay in the spare room at any time."
Fair enough.
As us taxpayers own the other 2/3 can we book a room as well ?

"At the time of the one piece of evidence the Telegraph built their story on - the receipt for house contents insurance - my daughter was living in student halls of residence. That information was given to the Telegraph but they chose to present a story implying that I only bought the flat for my daughter. Before she was in her hall of residence she lived elsewhere in London - not in the flat."

So exactly why was your daughter's name on the insurance policy ?

"My wife arranged the insurance for the flat. Because we have Post Office insurance on our main home in Cornwall, we were not allowed to have our name on another policy at another address." (quote from Telegraph article).
I wasn't aware that the Post Office doesn't allow you to have more than one policy - must check that out tomorrow when they open.

Look forward to hearing from you.

MPs Expenses - Andrew George - Cornwall

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My older daughter moved to London earlier this year - like many looking for wider opportunities than Cornwall offers. I'm sure there are many other graduates with good degrees who spent last summer working as waitresses or in kitchens around Cornwall.

She's now found a decent house share after weeks in a grotty flat. No Thames view but a nice West London suburb. After a real struggle she's also got herself a decent but low paid job with a good employer. She works all the hours she can to meet the rent and bills and is working towards the job she wants in the arts. I'm really proud of her.

My younger daughter may be heading the same way once she finishes at Truro College in two years. Would love to buy them a flat. We're reasonably well off but there is no way we could do that.

I've no comment on the Andrew George story for now.

Judge for yourselves - all sides of the story here.
Details are direct quotes from the relevant pages:

Daily Telegraph
Lib Dem MP Andrew George claimed expenses on £300,000 flat 'used as a bolt-hole by his model daughter.

Andrew George MP
RESPONSE TO TELEGRAPH ARTICLE

Guido Fawkes

..... Outside on the terrace another disgraced LibDem, Andrew George, was glued to his mobile phone - ......

Anna May Wong Must Die!

Don't miss Anna Chen's talk at St Ives Literature Festival tomorow (Friday 8th) about Hollywoood screen legend Anna May Wong.

She's prepared a lavishly illustrated multimedia presentation with music, poetry and more.

Be there - Salthouse Gallery St Ives. 7.00 start.

More on Anna's Blog:

Madam Miaow Says

St Ives Literature Festival - Day 5

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Another pleasant day in St Ives enjoying the festival and spending time with friends.

At lunchtime I went over to The Salthouse Gallery and caught Charles Shaar Murray and Buffalo Bill Smith.

Followed by the usual couple of pints at The Sloop.

We spent some time plotting gigs for St Ives September Festival.

More info here soon once confirmed.

Porthmeor Beach - Sunset

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Tonight I did what I should do more often - but don't do often enough.

Simply chilling on Porthmeor with a glass of wine watching the sun go down.

St Ives Literature Festival

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Have enjoyed the last couple of days events at the Lit. Fest.

Last night Charles Shaar Murray gave us a great preview of his new novel - The Hellhound Sample.

This afternoon I headed over to Poetry In The Square. As usual a few of us then went down to The Sloop at 2.00 for a quick pint. As usual we were still there a couple of hours later.

Beautiful day in St Ives.

Birmingham City - Cornwall - Blues Promoted!

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We did it !!!

After a tense afternoon Cornwall Bluenoses celebrate big style.

Next season we'll be meeting up in in The Three Ferrets in St Ives or in Hayle (pub TBA) for every televised game.

I'm setting up a website here:
Blues Cornwall

KRO. SOTV.

Birmingham City Supporters Club - Cornwall

Birmingham City Supporters Club - Cornwall

A few years ago I ran the official Blues supporters club in Cornwall, until pressure of work meant that I didn't have the time.

With Blues promotion to the Premiership imminent I've decided to revive it, although in a simpler form than before.

Not sure where to meet in St Ives yet. I was going to suggest The Sheaf Of Wheat - but they've just decided to show the Liverpool game on Sunday (3rd May) rather than Reading v Blues, on the basis that they'll get more Scousers in than Blues. Same issue will arise next season if there is a Liverpool / Chelsea / Man Utd / Vile game on at the same time as ours. So need to look elsewhere - let me know any suggestions.

If others want to organise meets in their own local pub elsewhere in Cornwall I'll be happy to publicise them. I'll be setting up a new website next week:

www.bluescornwall.co.uk

To keep it simple I'll not be collecting subs, arranging trips to matches or booking coaches. As above, if anybody else wants to do that I'll be happy to pass on details.

Please drop me an email, or comment here with contact details, if you want to be added to my mailing list:

steve.mcintosh@onestives.co.uk

KRO. SOTV.

Steve

Updates:

Saturday 3rd - We'll be watching the game at The Three Ferrets in Chapel Street St Ives. They have two screens and will be showing Liverpool on one and Blues on the other. See you there.

(Photo Credit: Bruker. Sourced from Wikimedia)